Graphical user interfaces and occlusion prevention for fisheye lenses with line segment foci

• US 20050264894A1
• Filed: 05/27/2005
• Published: 12/01/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accessify, LLC (Ascend Innovation Management, LLC)
• Original Assignee: IDELIX Software Inc. (Lat49 Media Inc.)
• Inventors: Shoemaker, Garth B. D., Tigges, Mark H. A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,106,927 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 359/622
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/047 Fisheye or wide-angle transformations
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/80 Geometric correction

Abstract

A method for generating a presentation of a region-of-interest in an original image for display on a display screen, comprising: establishing a lens for the region-of-interest, the lens having a magnified focal region for the region-of-interest at least partially surrounded by a shoulder region having diminishing magnification, the focal region having a perimeter defined by a radius r from a line segment; receiving one or more signals to adjust at least one of the radius r and a length len of the line segment to thereby adjust the perimeter; and, applying the lens to the original image to produce the presentation.

Claims

1. A method for generating a presentation of a region-of-interest in an original image for display on a display screen, comprising:

establishing a lens for the region-of-interest, the lens having a magnified focal region for the region-of-interest at least partially surrounded by a shoulder region having diminishing magnification, the focal region having a perimeter defined by a radius r from a line segment;

receiving one or more signals to adjust at least one of the radius r and a length len of the line segment to thereby adjust the perimeter; and

,

applying the lens to the original image to produce the presentation.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the receiving further comprises receiving one or more signals to adjust a position of an end of the line segment to thereby rotate the focal region.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the applying further comprises displacing the original image onto the lens to produce a displacement and perspectively projecting the displacement onto a plane in a direction aligned with a viewpoint for the region-of-interest.

4. The method of claim 3 and further comprising displaying the presentation on the display screen.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the lens is a surface.

6. The method of claim 2 and further comprising receiving the one or more signals through a graphical user interface (“

GUI”

) displayed over the lens.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the GUI has means for adjusting at least one of the radius r, the length len, and the position.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein at least some of the means are icons.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the means for adjusting the length len and the position is a handle icon positioned at an end of the line segment.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the means for adjusting the radius r is a handle icon positioned on a side of the perimeter.

11. The method of claim 6 and further comprising receiving the one or more signals from a pointing device manipulated by a user.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the pointing device is at least one of a mouse, a pen and tablet, a trackball, a keyboard, an eye tracking device, and a position tracking device.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein an adjustment to a first end of the line segment causes a corresponding adjustment to a second end of the line segment.

14. The method of claim 2 wherein the line segment and focal region rotate about a center point of the line segment.

15. The method of claim 1 and further comprising receiving one or more signals through a GUI displayed over the lens to adjust a width sw of the shoulder region, wherein the GUI has one or more handle icons positioned on a bounds of the lens for adjusting the width sw.

16. A system for generating a presentation of a region-of-interest in an original image for display on a display screen, comprising:

a processor coupled to memory, the display screen, and an input device and adapted to;

establish a lens for the region-of-interest, the lens having a magnified focal region for the region-of-interest at least partially surrounded by a shoulder region having diminishing magnification, the focal region having a perimeter defined by a radius from a line segment;

receive one or more signals to adjust at least one of the radius and a length of the line segment to thereby adjust the perimeter; and

,

apply the lens to the original image to produce the presentation.

17. A computer program product having a computer readable medium tangibly embodying computer executable code for directing a data processing system to generate a presentation of a region-of-interest in an original image for display on a display screen, the computer program product comprising:

code for establishing a lens for the region-of-interest, the lens having a magnified focal region for the region-of-interest at least partially surrounded by a shoulder region having diminishing magnification, the focal region having a perimeter defined by a radius from a line segment;

code for receiving one or more signals to adjust at least one of the radius and a length of the line segment to thereby adjust the perimeter; and

,

code for applying the lens to the original image to produce the presentation.

18. An article having a computer readable modulated carrier signal medium being usable over a network, the computer readable modulated carrier signal medium having embedded means for directing a data processing system to generate a presentation of a region-of-interest in an original image for display on a display screen, the article comprising:

means in the medium for establishing a lens for the region-of-interest, the lens having a magnified focal region for the region-of-interest at least partially surrounded by a shoulder region having diminishing magnification, the focal region having a perimeter defined by a radius from a line segment;

means in the medium for receiving one or more signals to adjust at least one of the radius and a length of the line segment to thereby adjust the perimeter; and

,

means in the medium for applying the lens to the original image to produce the presentation.

19. A method in a computer system for reducing occlusion in a presentation of a region-of-interest of an original image, the presentation generated by applying a lens to the original image, the lens having a bounds and a focal region with a magnification m for the region-of-interest at least partially surrounded by a shoulder region having diminishing magnification and a width sw, the focal region having a perimeter defined by a radius r from a line segment having a length len, the method comprising:

determining a maximum radius maxr for defining the perimeter of the focal region from a distance dl between a point near the bounds of the lens and a nearest point on the line segment, the magnification m, and the width sw of the shoulder region, wherein maxr=sw/(m−

1)−

dl; and

,

restricting adjustment of the radius r to below the maximum radius maxr to thereby reduce occlusion of the shoulder region by the focal region.

20. The method of claim 19 and further comprising:

determining a minimum shoulder width minw from the length len, radius r, and magnification m, wherein minw=(len+r)*(m−

1); and

,

restricting adjustment of the width sw of the shoulder region to above the minimum shoulder width minw to thereby reduce occlusion of the shoulder region by the focal region.

21. The method of claim 20 and further comprising:

determining a maximum line segment length maxd from the radius r, magnification m, width sw of the shoulder region, and length len, wherein;

maxd=sw/(m−

1)−

r, for m>

1, and maxd=r+sw+len, for m≦

1; and

,

restricting adjustment of the length len of the line segment to below the maximum line segment length maxd to thereby reduce occlusion of the shoulder region by the focal region.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the applying further comprises displacing the original image onto the lens to produce a displacement and perspectively projecting the displacement onto a plane in a direction aligned with a viewpoint for the region-of-interest.

23. The method of claim 22 and further comprising displaying the presentation on a display screen.

24. The method of claim 19 wherein the lens is a surface.

25. The method of claim 21 and further comprising receiving one or more signals to adjust at least one of the radius r and the length len of the line segment to thereby adjust the perimeter of the focal region.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the receiving further comprises receiving one or more signals to adjust a position of an end of the line segment to thereby rotate the focal region.

27. The method of claim 26 and further comprising receiving the one or more signals through a graphical user interface (“

GUI”

) displayed over the lens.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the GUI has means for adjusting at least one of the radius r and the length len.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein at least some of the means are icons.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the means for adjusting the length len is a handle icon positioned at an end of the line segment.

31. The method of claim 29 wherein the means for adjusting the distance r is a handle icon positioned on a side of the perimeter.

32. The method of claim 27 and further comprising receiving the one or more signals from a pointing device manipulated by a user.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the pointing device is at least one of a mouse, a pen and tablet, a trackball, a keyboard, an eye tracking device, and a position tracking device.

34. The method of claim 25 wherein an adjustment to a first end of the line segment causes a corresponding adjustment to a second end of the line segment.

35. The method of claim 26 wherein the line segment and focal region rotate about a center point of the line segment.

36. The method of claim 19 and further comprising receiving one or more signals through a GUI displayed over the lens to adjust the width sw of the shoulder region, wherein the GUI has one or more handle icons positioned on the bounds of the lens for adjusting the width sw.

37. A system for reducing occlusion in a presentation of a region-of-interest of an original image, the presentation generated by applying a lens to the original image, the lens having a bounds and a focal region with a magnification m for the region-of-interest at least partially surrounded by a shoulder region having diminishing magnification and a width sw, the focal region having a perimeter defined by a radius r from a line segment having a length len, the system comprising:

a processor coupled to memory, a display screen, and an input device and adapted to;

determine a maximum radius maxr for defining the perimeter of the focal region from a distance dl between a point near the bounds of the lens and a nearest point on the line segment, the magnification m, and the width sw of the shoulder region, wherein maxr=sw/(m−

1)−

dl; and

,

restrict adjustment of the radius r to below the maximum radius maxr to thereby reduce occlusion of the shoulder region by the focal region.

38. A computer program product having a computer readable medium tangibly embodying computer executable code for directing a data processing system to reduce occlusion in a presentation of a region-of-interest of an original image, the presentation generated by applying a lens to the original image, the lens having a bounds and a focal region with a magnification m for the region-of-interest at least partially surrounded by a shoulder region having diminishing magnification and a width sw, the focal region having a perimeter defined by a radius r from a line segment having a length len, the computer program product comprising:

code for determining a maximum radius maxr for defining the perimeter of the focal region from a distance dl between a point near the bounds of the lens and a nearest point on the line segment, the magnification m, and the width sw of the shoulder region, wherein maxr=sw/(m−

1)−

dl; and

,

code for restricting adjustment of the radius r to below the maximum radius maxr to thereby reduce occlusion of the shoulder region by the focal region.

39. An article having a computer readable modulated carrier signal medium being usable over a network, the computer readable modulated carrier signal medium having embedded means for directing a data processing system to reduce occlusion in a presentation of a region-of-interest of an original image, the presentation generated by applying a lens to the original image, the lens having a bounds and a focal region with a magnification m for the region-of-interest at least partially surrounded by a shoulder region having diminishing magnification and a width sw, the focal region having a perimeter defined by a radius r from a line segment having a length len, the article comprising:

means in the medium for determining a maximum radius maxr for defining the perimeter of the focal region from a distance dl between a point near the bounds of the lens and a nearest point on the line segment, the magnification m, and the width sw of the shoulder region, wherein maxr=SW/(m−

1)−

dl; and

,

means in the medium for restricting adjustment of the radius r to below the maximum radius maxr to thereby reduce occlusion of the shoulder region by the focal region.